Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Ponyfic Roundup 165: Home for Retired Bears

Read it Later story count: 408 (-11)

My PC is still dying, but I haven't been able to get the time, money, money or time to replace it yet, so I'm struggling on with the one I've got for now. At least I've managed to get five stories read this week, which frankly feels like something of an achievement. Okay, okay, the nice weather helped – sitting in the garden with a book is one of life's nicer little pleasures. Here's what I've got for you today:

A smith has her work cut out for her when a pony named Lyra shows up with a very special order. A Fallen World story.

This story is a fixture in Fimfiction's top 20 and got very favourable reviews around the fandom. For me... well, let's look at the plus points first. It's really nicely written, all the more impressive for a 2012 fic. Perhaps a bit too nicely written in the opening scene, which did go on a little longer than I liked. At one later point, a three-word sentence says a great deal, even if I'm not entirely sure I like what it says. The world-building is absolutely fascinating, with little revealed about why Equestria has fallen beyond tiny hints here and there – the author has never revealed much, either! I felt Discord had to be involved in the evil somewhere (2012, remember), due to the name of a certain location. I don't really like the mystery about the identity of the Shaper (why not "Smith", given the title?) as it's obvious from both the character tag and the cover art. A "Lyra and hands" aspect while directly relevant to the plot, seems too light and silly for this story, while something in an action scene near the end feels a bit too convenient. I do like the way Lyra and AB's relationship builds, and that you're not left feeling hopeless at the end. But, as with, Cold in Gardez's The Glass Blower (PR 51), this works best when it's least Pony and that's just a bit of a problem for me. A top-end three is perhaps a tad harsh, but its little discomforts add up. ★★★

Running Ponyville takes a lot of paperwork, and nopony but the Mayor
seems to appreciate just how much. Sometimes, it can drive a mare a
little... crazy.

The story to which Buck That! Bleep this. (PR 56) is a sequel, this is in much the same vein, albeit with a lot less *bleep*ing. It's a look at how various piles of paperwork can drive a mayor to take somewhat unorthodox measures. Like its companion story, this is mildly amusing in places but that's about it. ★★

The firefly reference is not to the G1 pony, but to the way in which Twi is made an experimental subject in the way she had treated fireflies in the past. Despite a few clever touches like "Melody's Musical Metals" (which allows you to identify metals by the sound they make when hit) and a nice early scene involving a cloud, this one mostly doesn't do it for me. Twilight's narrative voice doesn't always convince, she talks about a spell to create stuff out of thin air – which seems a bit unEquestrian – and there's a rather dull ending. This fic made The Royal Guard, but that odd narrative voice in particular stops me from going along with their assessment. ★★

Everypony knows the truth about where Scootaloo lives and who her parents are... Don't they?

This is one of those really, really stupid stories that PP often does rather well. All the fillies are convinced they know what's up with Scoots, though they will insist on arguing their case even while she's present. The story is only there as a lead-up to the stupidity at the conclusion, but it's funny stupidity, even if the end A/N does dilute the impact a bit by slightly ponderously explaining the joke. ★★★

Mister Lonely Heart is a self-styled "Grievance Counselor", a changeling
who mimics ponies that his clients have issues with. When Twilight
Sparkle pays him a visit, he finds out how painfully neurotic the
Princess of Friendship really is.

The premise of this fic is great, one that could set up all kinds of fascinating tales. In this case, though, it's wasted a little as it's used to set up a mopey Twilight talking about Flash Sentry. It's all a bit too straightforward, which in a fic where the notion of conflicting and unresolved emotions is central is a bit of a problem. Worth reading for the little asides MLH offers, but a disappointingly underdeveloped concept here. ★★Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: I'm hoping to do my first character-themed edition for a while, but that will depend on how well my computer holds up!

I'm a little surprised to see that low a rating for "The Archer and the Smith," given that everyone seems to love it to an absurd degree, but I've never read it, so I can't say for myself. Though that is a common criticism of it, that it pointlessly plays coy with the smith's identity when it's plainly visible in the cover art.

I've read PP's story, I think when it was a write-off entry, if indeed it was. I remember finding it funny, but I don't remember any specifics.

"Mister Lonely Heart." Hm. Yeah, I have pretty much the same criticism of it. It's just a vehicle to have Twilight whine about Flash without investing their relationship with enough to make me care about why. And then the story more stops than ends. It didn't draw any conclusions or change anything. Plus it sets up this changeling as the star of the story, then never goes anywhere with him. If it became a series, I could maybe see him as just a facilitator that gets you at everyone else's story, but as a standalone, it just leaves him feeling empty.

TA&tS was very nearly a four, and probably would have got one had it not been for that coyness. It was one of those borderline things. Similarly, I gave The Glass Blower a four largely on the strength of its writing, when without that it would have been a three. Tbh it might have been a three these days anyway, as it's probably my least favourite CiG story.

If there is a sequel to MLH, I'll probably end up reading it sooner or later, as I do like the concept. I just hope the guy gets some more character development of his own.

Gah. Fixed! Thanks for pointing it out, and my apologies to the author. I'm annoyed at myself there, as one thing I really do try hard to get right is representing fic and author names as the author wants them.

Yep. I've been dropping stories that I'm no longer interested in reading, or that I keep passing over for other things. One or two have been deleted/unpublished since I added them, too. In the longer term, I want to get the RiL list down to about 100-200, but "longer" is the operative word here!